trimmingthesailstag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-834478922701596282015-03-01T22:54:45+00:00TypePadA little something for you (1) ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c01b7c756dbd9970b2015-03-01T22:54:45+00:002015-03-01T22:54:03+00:00Photobooks? Ah, but where to have them printed and what size, if you'd like a scrapbooker's alternative to the 12x12" format! After devouring reviews (TechRadar and Digital Camera World) and sites (Blurb, Jessops, Albelli, Photobox, Bob's Books et al.), and scuttling down alleyways into dead-ends with Incompatibilities between versions of...alexa

Photobooks? Ah, but where to have them printed and what size, if you'd like a scrapbooker's alternative to the 12x12" format! After devouring reviews (TechRadar and Digital Camera World) and sites (Blurb, Jessops, Albelli, Photobox, Bob's Books et al.), and scuttling down alleyways into dead-ends with Incompatibilities between versions of hardware, software and Javascript, I have finally slid to a halt at Blurb's 8x10" portrait offering. It's a tad smaller in format than the Mollie Makes craft magazine - but as Mollie's editors manage to pack in quite a lot, I am hopeful it's a size that will prove flexible.

Having made a clutch of Photoshop/Photoshop Elements templates, I am happy to share them with you (downloads below). I've experimented with copying the layers into an 8.5x11 page and they work well there too, giving a nice spacious margin; they can also be enlarged with the Transform/Scale tool (105%) or by selecting all layers, clicking and dragging. For those of you who either scrap, or are thinking of scrapping, digitally in a pocket style, the photo spaces are the same proportions as those offered by Becky Higgins.

Here's the clean Simply Modern version with a slim whisper of white between the photo or journalling spaces ...

Should you like a hint of a rounded corner, with just the outer ones shaped, this Simply Modern Soft collection might suit you ...

And if you like to go the whole hog, with every corner rounded and a drop shadow to boot, the Simply Modern Curve could be right up your street ...

Thank-you for all your good wishes for my back (much better) and the visit to the Littlies (delightful). And yes, the Baltic in winter has a bleak beauty of its own! Here's a quick peek of last Monday ...

Wishing you a warmly creative week, and see you soon?

Just my type (and something for you)tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c01a73dedfe74970d2014-07-16T12:15:52+01:002014-07-16T12:14:43+01:00Hello and welcome! And I am very, very ... to see you :). Inbetween a gazillion mini-crises (you will all know what that's like), I have escaped to my trusty and much-loved typewriter, taken a photo, and then hopped in and out of Waterlogue and Photoshop in a micro-managing sort...alexa

Hello and welcome! And I am very, very ...

to see you :). Inbetween a gazillion mini-crises (you will all know what that's like), I have escaped to my trusty and much-loved typewriter, taken a photo, and then hopped in and out of Waterlogue and Photoshop in a micro-managing sort of way to make these ... And I thought: "Oooh, a little bit of brighter colour might be fun?" Especially since this boot in a diary-with-a-difference page just seemed to need a little journalling card with a flash of amber ...

And, well, you know how it goes: one thing just seemed to lead to another. So this is ...

... and I have popped all eight onto a couple of pdfs for you below, with a layered psd. file for Photoshop or Elements. Just in case you are mad about typewriters too :).

Each card is 3"x4", and the pdfs are printer-ready for the standard paper size where you live. I'm thinking ...

a greetings card with a row of little typewriters and a handwritten, stamped or typed letter spelling out 'Happy' on the front. or 'Hello' or 'For You' or a name perhaps? And the rest of the greeting inside, like Birthday, Anniversary ...

tags for presents; or a tag added to a card

a journalling card, typed or handwritten and popped onto a paper or digital layout or Project Life page

But being such a creative bunch, you will be able to think of many more! So please do help yourself to any which take your fancy. Or all of them. From me to you xxx.

Memory-keeping: a diary with a difference ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c01a511da4c72970c2014-07-04T14:58:41+01:002014-07-04T14:53:17+01:00Where has the year gone? seems to be the global refrain this month, as we sail past the Summer Solstice and settle into July. With six months of the year behind, I've been flicking through my own version of The Documented Life Project started in January for simple memory-keeping. (You'll...alexa

Where has the year gone? seems to be the global refrain this month, as we sail past the Summer Solstice and settle into July. With six months of the year behind, I've been flicking through my own version of The Documented Life Project started in January for simple memory-keeping. (You'll find the official project here at Art to the 5th.) Should you be toying with the idea of something similar, or wondering about an alternative to Project Life, I have some information and reflections for you today on this kind of memory-keeping ...

The structure

I loved the concept of the tip-in pages: these are additonal sheets of card or paper fastened along the outside edge of a diary page with washi tap to create a flap.

Choosing a cheap shop-bought diary and taking it apart to make a six-month diary with a spiral binding (using the Bind-It-All) was a good decision - otherwise I'd have ended up with an unwieldy Moleskin which was thin on the left at the spine and hugely thick on the right at the outside edges.

The contents

The two-days-to-a-page format was just enough space for helpful memory-keeping: recording the events and the flavour of a day. Yep, there are blanks, but I'm OK with that - it takes time to make diary-keeping a habit!

In the original project, the tip-in pages were added in advance. As I didn't follow all the mixed media prompts, a number of mine were unused; in future I'll add them as needed. What else did they get used them for? Oh, all sorts of things!

- freebies from magazines were turned into pockets and more flaps, with additional stories inside - little drawings by my daughter or samples of pen-and-paper games with the grand-children - hand-painted booklets holding thoughts and observations - journalling for Ali Edwards' One Little Word project - snap-shots that probably wouldn't make it onto a scrapbook page but were redolent of the moment

- dollops of mixed media experiments from a variety of on-line classes - postcards and special cards from family and scrapbooking friends - memorable quotes and pieces of poetry which took my fancy - any other fragments of my life I wanted to collect and hold together in one place

It was perfect for more substantial booklets too - this recent holiday journal is the first I have ever managed to complete en route and in the field, so as to speak. It will be invaluable when I come to scrap the hundreds of photos, and contains receipts, leaflets, tickets ...

In the light of experience ...

I'm trying a few modifications. This next one for July to December is spiral bound at the top, like a Reporter's Notebook, to make writing from left to right easier and smoother: that spiral can get in the way!

the Leuchtturm elasticated pen-holder, bought in a stationery shop, was perfect and stayed stuck to the back inside cover like, well, glue - I am sure they could hold shelves up with whatever they used. This time, I've moved the pen-holder to the foot of the pages, rather than at the side, and it's hidden by the front cover.

I'll be experimenting with mini-scrapbook pages: watch this space!

More drawing/sketching would be good. The next series of Sketchbook Skool is about to start :).

What's it good for?

It holds memories. I like capturing at least some of the details of the day. When I look back, it brings what has happened freshly and vividly into view again. And, of course, as Gwendolen remarks in The Importance of Being Earnest: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

It nourishes creativity. When days are full, a small page does not seem so very daunting. Even just making a quick pocket or flap from a bag of marshamallows keeps creativity flowing.

It lets you try things out without lots of fuss. A quick dab of a new ink on a letter stamp to begin a paragraph; a five-minute play with a stencil and a bit of paint and you have a pretty flap to add; a technique you've read about on a blog and are not sure where to use - well, there'll be somewhere in your diary for it, and it'll be there to refer to for the future.

It acts as preparation for other forms of scrapbooking, or digital photobooks. Stories and bits of realia are already safely stashed away and even if you never do anything more with them, you have captured and documented life as it happened, through your own eyes.

As you can probably sense, I have become an enthusiast. This diary-with-a-difference, in the midst of busyness, fractured days and unpredictability, is proving a lifeline - in more ways than one!

Hoping there's been something to grab your attention or to interest you today, and that you have a lovely weekend wherever you are ...

Travelling hopefully ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c01a5118a6094970c2014-03-20T18:50:19+00:002014-03-20T21:50:19+00:00... as we made our way there, and then back to life here and to blogland. Lovely to see you! Although our visit to the family was only a two-nighter, work and home seem to have generated a surprisingly large backlog of things-to-catch-up on, so my page is a simple...alexa

... as we made our way there, and then back to life here and to blogland. Lovely to see you! Although our visit to the family was only a two-nighter, work and home seem to have generated a surprisingly large backlog of things-to-catch-up on, so my page is a simple one today ...

And I was thinking that we might have Simply A Moment in a few days time on Saturday 23rd? (The Linky will be open for a fortnight so there will be plenty of time to join in, if you would like.) Looking forward to popping in to see you between now and then :).

Outside and inside ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c019b052adacf970d2014-01-24T12:55:54+00:002014-01-24T12:54:20+00:00The Outside I've been measuring books. I know - not quite in the same class as the killer first ten words of Rinda's wonderful post. But if you're going to produce a photobook, getting the right size for your purpose matters. Abi and Amy's beautiful volumes are 12"x12" inches and...alexa

The OutsideI've been measuring books. I know - not quite in the same class as the killer first ten words of Rinda's wonderful post. But if you're going to produce a photobook, getting the right size for your purpose matters. Abi and Amy's beautiful volumes are 12"x12" inches and I can really feel the pull of those glorious large photo pages. On a practical note, I think that size is going to be a bit large and heavy for me: if I live long enough to reach LOL (Little Old Lady) status, I'll be a little sad if I don't have the strength to manoeuvre my books off the shelf and onto my lap. So I've been a-weighing and a-measuring ...

... and balancing the sizes from Snapfish and Blurb, along with Amy's comment that the Blurb books don't lie flat, the fact that some of Snapfish's can, plus the possible benefits of using the Blurb plug-in for In Design, along with the portrait/landscape dilemma, the desire to have more room for story perhaps than photo ... too many choices to balance! I'm finally settling for an 8"x10" Blurb book (about the size of The Repurposed Library above); a double-page spread has more of a square look than would be the case in landscape and might be easier to design.

The InsideThis has also needed some weighing up. Though I really like the concept of Project Life, such a lot of my enjoyment in digital scrapbooking comes from playing with design - the same structure for each page is not going to keep my interest. On the other hand, experience tells me that designing every page from scratch will almost certainly result in zero production! So - my solution is to divide the year into four blocks of three months, roughly corresponding to the seasons, with a different theme for each section of my Day2Day 2014 book. Since I love magazine design, I might as well design myself one! In January-March, I'm taking a dotted line and a semi-circle for a walk and seeing how they develop; here's how the template possibilities are looking so far ...

Many of the photos will be details and close-ups, I think, rather than large panoramic or scenic views - life here is relatively stable and uneventful! And it will be perfectly possible to have an entire page or spread of just photos if warranted. I'm also hoping to include some of the lovely memes which are around, as regular features.

My Clean and Simple side is nicely satisfied with this. My Artsy one, meanwhile, is bouncing on and off the furniture chanting "Boring, boring ..!" Please excuse me while I try and get her under control - back soon :).

On a mag jag ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c0192ac7b7704970d2013-08-12T00:05:00+01:002013-08-11T21:30:00+01:00Magazines? They're my downfall. Home, garden, lifestyle, cookery, sport, cars, yachts, steam trains - whatever is sitting around in the library, the dentists' or the doctors', you'll find my head buried in them. I have been known to miss hearing my name called. Not because I'm reading, you understand; indeed,...alexa

Magazines? They're my downfall. Home, garden, lifestyle, cookery, sport, cars, yachts, steam trains - whatever is sitting around in the library, the dentists' or the doctors', you'll find my head buried in them. I have been known to miss hearing my name called. Not because I'm reading, you understand; indeed, most of the content passes me by. It's the design that makes my heart skip a beat: flick, flick, stop, stare, grab my notebook and pen, sketch, flick, flick ... This header, In August's The Simple Things, just jumped out at me ...

I mean, how cool is this? Perfect for adding a jazzy touch to an otherwise bread-and-butter page - the sort with lots of photos, and an occasion which just needs recording but without having the red carpet rolled out for it. I couldn't wait to get going in Photoshop and Illustrator, though I am feeling a tad guilty for not being able to acknowledge the designer by name. (Should it be you, and you happen to be reading along, please do email!). Having toyed with converting the shape to an oval so as not to totally scraplift, I realised that the triangular edges of the diamond worked so well with the shapes in my photos that I just went with it, and altered the vertical lines instead ...

So thank-you, talented designer, very much indeed. Now printed onto a single sheet and Herma-swiped, the page has been popped into my Day2Day album. Done. A sigh of short-lived satisfaction, for already I can feel the itch and twitch, the need to feel those glossy magazine pages between my fingers, the hunger for another fix ... When's the next appointment in my diary? :)

Oh, hold on a minute, just before you go! Just a quick reminder that it's going to be the 15th this Thursday and time for another Simply A Moment: a chance to pause for sixty seconds, look around and within, notice and record. Should you be new to Simply A Moment, or just like a refresh, the original inspiration is here, and the PDF of ideas can be downloaded with a click or two:

Bits, Bobs and Birds ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c019102b7070a970c2013-05-30T14:12:53+01:002013-05-30T14:11:52+01:00... this end of the month up here. Here's ... The bit ... of news I have for you and sorry to keep you in suspense while it matured for another few weeks: according to Himself, the home brew has been a great success and there is another round of...alexa

... this end of the month up here. Here's ...

The bit ...of news I have for you and sorry to keep you in suspense while it matured for another few weeks: according to Himself, the home brew has been a great success and there is another round of beer-making in the pipeline. We may need to build another bathroom.

The bob ...into Elinjanne's lovely work on her LOAD project shows a scrapbooker who has Clean and Simple off to a T. Do pop over and have a look.

And the (black) bird ...bobbing in and out of the clematis above the front door as she builds a nest, has been a bit of an anxiety - squawks and panicky flapping of wings (that's ours as well as hers) every time someone arrives or leaves. Might there be eggs already? Might she just go and not come back? As it turns out, it was no to the former and yes to the latter, alas. But it has given me pause for thought ...

If you'd like a copy of the blank index card, suitable for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, the zipped psd file is just below, so please do help yourself. I think it might just turn up on one of my scrapbook pages soon :).Download TabbedIndexCard.zip

And now I must rush, for a very interesting looking little package has just plopped through the door. I think may have something to do with Sian's splendid Great Big Idea.:). Back soon to show you!

A bit of a comic touch ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c019101e4db2a970c2013-05-09T17:23:30+01:002013-05-20T08:59:12+01:00"Comics and bars" - that's what it was known as in our house. On a Sunday evening, once school bags were packed, shoes polished, and kit sorted for the next day, my brothers and I would settle down round the fire as Dad brought us that week's edition of the...alexa

"Comics and bars" - that's what it was known as in our house. On a Sunday evening, once school bags were packed, shoes polished, and kit sorted for the next day, my brothers and I would settle down round the fire as Dad brought us that week's edition of the comic or magazine we'd each chosen as a regular order, along with a chocoate bar. There'd be the rustling of pages, the scrunching of wrappers and - mostly - silence for an hour ...

I realised later, of course, that it was a resourceful way for my parents to ensure some peace and quiet for themselves, but we loved it. At some point, we'd all swap. My brothers weren't so keen on Bunty or Judy, but the Dandy or the Beano was always good for some rumbustious entertainment ...

I've always loved the look of those comics; and what fun to experiment with making a page with one's own photos! A caption across the top of the frame, some sound and visual effects, the mottled and dotted effect of the background, plus some photos of Himself ...

... hello HalfTone App! Sixty-nine pence well spent. "If I'm going to star in a scrapbook comic", said Himself, peering over my shoulder, "I think I'm going to want some rhyming couplets too". I duly obliged. So for those of you who remember the opening sequence to this story, here is the sequel ...

And it printed out beautifully too. Now, cardmaking does not come easy to me, but I'm seeing possibilities!

And thank-you so much to all of you who popped in for a cup of tea last week, and to Abi for the inspiration; it was just lovely to see you! And it was especially nice that so many of you shared what you might want to talk about too - it really felt as if we were having a conversation :).

Up here, the glorious weather for a day or two has broken, but I am singing in the driving rain - for this weekend will be sparkling with the sunshine of time with our dearest daughter. There'll be photos! Looking forward to seeing you soon ...

Happy Birthday!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c017d432bd0d4970c2013-04-28T01:00:00+01:002013-04-28T08:47:59+01:00Yes, it's someone's birthday - Julie has been Letting The Days Roll By for two years old today! Welcome to Pass The Page Blog Hop (the scrapbookers' version of Chinese Whispers) which Julie has wonderfully organised by way of celebration. I'm delighted to wish her well, hope for many more...alexa

Yes, it's someone's birthday - Julie has been Letting The Days Roll By for two years old today! Welcome to Pass The Page Blog Hop (the scrapbookers' version of Chinese Whispers) which Julie has wonderfully organised by way of celebration. I'm delighted to wish her well, hope for many more happy years of posting, and am enjoying taking part :).

Have you arrived here via the talented Mel? Mel very kindly let me have a sneak preview of her page as inspiration for mine. You'll see that her clever clustering of hexagons caught my eye, and acted as a focus for my own photos; and I've placed my journalling and title lettering in the same area of the page as Mel did. I loved Mel's subtle checked background which blends so well with the photo, and the vertical strip of blue which neatly echoes the arm of the windmill; I choose a pale distressed look to tie in with the documents in my photos. And although I couldn't match those three artfully constructed paper windmills of Mel's, I made sure there were three whole hexagons of the same size to the right of the main picture. We also both have little black and white drawings/stamps of modes of transport on our layouts, appropriate to our themes - have you spotted them?

Well done! Now, I am not wanting to be discourteous (I really, really am not) and you are most welcome to stay for as long as you wish (and I hope you will), but - whispering very quietly in your ear - haven't you got somewhere else to go? Like Jo's? I think she'll be waiting for you ... :) And I will be hot on your heels, looking forward to seeing what has caught Jo's eye from here. Catch you there!

An ad, a page, and a reminder ...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01287715f501970c017c388f60b9970b2013-04-12T17:50:02+01:002013-04-12T17:49:48+01:00You probably know how much I love a good advert, especially one with plenty of 'white' space; and when this fell out of the middle of a magazine, how could I resist? It was just perfect for the photo of our rather tatty rhubarb, the only plant we brought back...alexa

You probably know how much I love a good advert, especially one with plenty of 'white' space; and when this fell out of the middle of a magazine, how could I resist?

It was just perfect for the photo of our rather tatty rhubarb, the only plant we brought back from the allotment-which-is-ours-no-longer. (Though quite why we choose this specimen I am not sure - I remember my brothers and Dad and I lawnmowering over the rhubarb patch one spring in the hope it would take the hint. It didn't. Mum was pleased.) The ad inspiration made a great cover for a little page inside with some and rather sad photos, and a dollop of hand-journalling ... A similar technique gave extra journalling space for a photo of all the wonderful gluten-free products my lovely daughter-in-law sent back with Himself for me.

Combined with the Lemon Drizzle collage, the page now looks something like this ...

I confess to enjoying 'keeping up to date' - despite all the voices in my head about it not being necessary! Oh, and washi tape makes a wonderfully un-bulky hinge ...

On Monday, I'll be stopping for a mid-month moment again, and you are most welcome to join me again, or for the first time, for Simply A Moment. It will probably be Tuesday before I am able to post, with the linky as usual, so please remember there is no rush - it'll be here for a fortnight!